Sept. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



417 



straw is worth double the hay crop. The orbs of 

 some farmer may swell at this enormous state- 

 ment, but I will stake my reputation for the truth 

 of it. Wheat is always worth $2 a bushel to the 

 farmer ; the straw pays for cultivation. 



Is not the insect spoken of by Thomas J. Field, 

 of Northfield, the weevil ? The winter wheat es- 

 capes it, from its being early. 



Many are the reasons that should arouse your 

 farmers to labor for an overflowing granary. Our 

 cities are being emptied by civil war : sewing 

 women, carpenters, merchants, draymen, all 

 trades and occupations, are being driven out to 

 their country friends. Already, it is a time of 

 broken fortunes and broken hearts ; Southern 

 treachery and political traitors have bred and de- 

 clared civil war ; an honest yeomanry were never 

 breeders of civil war, history tells no such black 

 tale of them. Like the villain that would rob the 

 church of its ornaments and burn the temple to 

 conceal the theft, so have they robbed us of mil- 

 lions of private property, and now seek our blood 

 and the overthrow of the government. Farmers, 

 we trust you are not ready for the sacrifice. Your 

 noble and sturdy regiments that daily, (almost,) 

 pass through this city, show that there is a will to 

 be executed, and a judgment to follow. Your 

 factory villages, your workshops and tanneries, 

 will cease to be busy. Butter, cheese, eggs and 

 hay, will lesson in demand — but the principle of 

 government or no government is being tested. 

 Let us be patient — triumph is ours. 



New York, Aug. 8, 1861. H. Poor. 



THE KICHES OF A DKOUTH. 



Several very interesting experiments which were 

 tried by Prof. Higgins, go to show the action of 

 drouth in bringing mineral waters from a depth 

 to the surface of the soil. In one case he placed 

 a solution of chloride of barium in the bottom of 

 a glass cylinder, and then filled it with dry soil. 

 After long exposure to the rays of the sun, the 

 surface of the soil was tested with sulphuric acid^ 

 and gave a copious precipitate of sulphate of bary- 

 ta. Chloride of lime, sulphate of soda, and car- 

 bonate of potash, were experimented upon in like 

 manner, and upon the application of proper tests 

 the surface of the soil showed their presence in 

 large quantities, drawn up by the rising of water 

 from underneath, as in the case of drouth. 



The parched earth — all vegetation dwarfed and 

 withered by the heat — seems suffering under a 

 curse ; but it is only an affliction for the present 

 — "a blessing in disguise" for the future. "The 

 early and latter rains" may produce at once abund- 

 ant crops, but dry weather is needed to bring to 

 the surface from the depths of the earth, where 

 else it would be forever unemployed, food for fu- 

 ture harvests. It is Nature's ordinance for keep- 

 ing up the fertility of the cultivated soul. 



But this is not the only way in which Nature 

 converts drouth into a blessing. The rootlets of 

 plants, unable to find their accustomed food in 

 solution near the surface, are compelled to make 

 deeper and more extensive investigations in search 

 of sustenance. If the soil is deeply pulverized, 

 and well underdrained, so as to prevent packing 

 together and baking, these roots will travel as- 

 tonishing distances, running away from the 

 drouth. While the surface is kept moist by fre- 



quent rains, evaporation goes on rapidly, carry- 

 ing off" a great amount of heat, the subsoil is left 

 cold and the roots are deterred from penetrating 

 it. But when the surface becomes parched and 

 evaporation checked, a genial heat is diff"used 

 through the lower stratum, and a warm invita- 

 tion is given the fibres to descend — an invitation 

 to dinner which they seldom decline. 



Suppose now our wheat or corn plant, or even 

 tree, has, by the pressure of circumstances, sent 

 down its thousands of feeders, and become well 

 established in its new quarters. It is not evi- 

 dent that it is in the best possible condition to 

 meet every emergency ? It laughs at the drouth 

 and luxuriates in scorching days and sweltering 

 nights. And when again the rain descends and 

 refreshes the thirsty surface, our plant has a very 

 important advantage over those whose roots lie 

 near the surface, and are many of them shriveled 

 and useless. It is provided with a double set of 

 suction pumps, and makes a wonderful growth in 

 a very short time. 



Again, not only are valuable substances drawn 

 to the surface by the moisture ascending during 

 drouth, but the long roots which penetrate the 

 subsoil, bring up and store near the surface the 

 potash, lime, and other mineral elements. The 

 roots themselves, after the plant has ripened, rot, 

 and yield up to another crop what they have 

 stored up. The great secret of the benefit of a 

 crop of clover turned under, lies in the fact that 

 it sends down very long roots, and many good 

 farmers are of the opinion that the roots are of 

 more value than the tops for manure. 



But the most important of all the lessons we 

 learn from drouth, is that a deep, light and por- 

 ous soil is almost drouth proof. All the eff'ect it 

 has is to cause the plant to present its drafts to 

 the bank lower down — the upper one may sus- 

 pend, the lower one never does. It is not suffi- 

 cient to plow beam-deep — if it is not properly 

 underdrained the soil will pack so close and hard 

 that the slender roots will fail to insinuate them- 

 selves into its confidence. 



Keep your land light and mellow, to a good 

 depth, by whatever means, and "the riches of a 

 drouth" will certainly be secured in abundance. 



To Prevent Flies from Teasing Horses. 

 — Take two or three small handful s of walnut 

 leaves, upon which pour two or three quarts of 

 soft cold water ; let it infuse one night, and pour 

 the whole next morning into a kettle, and let it 

 boil for fifteen minutes. When cold, it will be 

 fit for use. No more is required than to wet a 

 sponge, and before the horse goes out of the sta- 

 ble let those parts which are most irritated be 

 smeared over with the liquor. 



Exchanging Boys. — An exchange of farmers' 

 sons is proposed by the Homestead. It is argued 

 that it would prove mutually advantageous for a 

 Massachusetts farmer's boy to exchange, for a 

 season or two, with a Maine or a Vermont boy. 

 Among other reasons it is suggested they would 

 each act somewhat in the character of a "hired 

 man," learn new processes, &c. &c. 



